Hidden truths
by Ole.we
Summary: Hanna, seen as the school's it-girl, developes a different part of her when the new girl Emily joins their class. Hamily.
1. Chapter 1

Her brand-new shoes on her feet, she drove her way to school. Looking into the rear mirror, she considered a girl with smoothed hair and makeup on her face. Hanna knew why she cared so much about her appearance:

Because that's what people saw, when they looked at her.

They saw the smooth hair and the long fake lashes. They saw the thin legs in the skinny jeans and liked it. She kinda liked it too, not because she wanted to be incredible pretty but because she wanted to fit in.

Fitting in made everything easier, at least that's what Hanna thought.  
Driving onto the parking, she had a last look on her reflection in the mirror.

She looked like she always did and like always she was not happy with what she saw but that didn't matter now.

Getting out of the car, all she thought was that it was not about being self-confident but acting as if.

All she had to do is act, another day and she knew that she could do it and people would believe her. She knew that because it had been working out for the past years and so would it today.

* * *

Hanna walked among the other students, paving her way through the overcrowded floors. Her friends were already waiting for her in front of the classroom: Aria and Spencer, the artistic and the nerdy, the tall and the small one.

"Hey guys." Hanna said, putting a smile on as she spotted them. "Have you already seen the new Taylor swift video?"  
"Yeah, of course I have. I was so upset when she deleted her pics on Instagram." Responded Mona instead of the others, joining the group.

"Oh." Aria murmured. "Hey, Mona.", visible not glad about her appearing. Neither Aria, nor Spencer really liked Mona because they didn't have the same interests and never got to know each other very well. Okay, maybe also because Mona appeared to be superficial.

"I haven't yet because I have been working on this essay for Russian history the entire night." Continued Spencer, ignoring Aria's annoyed glances at Mona.

Of course, Spencer hadn't had time for watching YouTube videos, at least she participated in literally every extracurricular that was available at school. Why had she even asked?  
"What I anyway wanted to ask." Interrupted Mona. "Have you heard about the new girl coming to our class?"  
"No." Aria said, suddenly developing interest in their conversation. "Which new girl?"

"I don't know anything particular but she is of our age and comes from California."  
"Why would somebody from California come to a small town like rosewood?" Spencer asked giggling.

"That was what I was gonna say if you hadn't interrupted me." Said Mona. "So, they say her dad works for the military and has been transferred to another unit."  
"How do you anyway not that already?" wondered Aria.

"Um, my friend Tina is friend with the principal's daughter who told her and Tina told me."  
Mona's monologue was interrupted by the bell, letting them get into the classroom.

While Hanna took her stuff out, her teacher appeared in front of the class, followed by a girl, the girl Mona had been talking about.

Hanna looked up from her English book, she had opened to a random page to seem busy when the teacher came in and considered her standing there next to the teacher.

"Okay, listen please." Said Ms. Montgomery who was not only currently their English teacher but also Aria's mum. "We have got a new student, joining this class. Would you like to introduce yourself to your class mates?" she asked encouraging.

The girl was obviously ashamed of standing in the center but still began to talk. "My name is Emily and yes, I'm sixteen years old. I'm from California."

"What about hobbies?" Ms. Montgomery asked.

"I've been on the swim team in my old school and I also read a lot." She said blushing a little.

"Welcome to our school then, Emily. You can sit down wherever you want."

The girl walked through the class, looking for an empty chair and finally sat down at the table next to Hanna's.  
A couple of times during the lesson, Hanna caught herself glancing at her which didnn't prove as easy because most of her face was covered with her curly black hair.

As Hanna is looked at her for another time, she suddenly turned her head and their looks crossed and she smiled shy.  
Embarrassed, Hanna looks away, not wanting her to think that she is one of this weird girls staring at the new ones all the time.

* * *

After the lesson, Hanna and Aria went to the girl's washroom. On their way there, Aria said: "This new girl, Emily, she seems to be nice."  
"Probably she is." Hanna admitted.

"I think she's kinda shy but that's not even bad, isn't it?"  
Hanna didn't answer because she wasn't listening. She wanted to but her thoughts always deviated from Aria talking.

"Han?" she asked, reaching for her arm.  
"Um." Hanna said snapping back to reality. "What?"  
"Why aren't you listening? If you think what I'm talking about is boring, just tell me."

"I'm sorry."  
"I'm kidding, Han. I didn't say that to make you apologize but seriously now, you seem distracted. I already thought that in English. Everything okay?"  
"Why wouldn't it be? I'm perfectly fine, just not a morning person." She meant, not really believing herself.  
"Okay, then." Aria answered, continuing to talk about how she was annoyed of her mum being her English teacher.

Hanna nodded sometimes to show participation because she didn't want Aria to keep on asking how she was doing. Because she didn't know.

Waking up, Hanna had had the feeling that it would be a normal day, just a day in 365. But that was when she didn't know this new girl would show up.

Hanna sighed absentminded.

"That's enough now." Aria said, holding her back. "What are you thinking about that is more important than anything else?"  
"I wish I knew." Hanna said, waving her hand while she leaves for her PE class. I wish I knew, she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer let her spoon sink in her cup of coffee, while waiting for it to finally cool down. The weather outside had gotten worse and she wass really happy to sit in the warm and dry shop.

Aria, across her, considered Spencer's face.

"Um, Spence?" she asked, getting her attention.

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to talk about but I'm not sure."  
"Hey, just tell me, whatever it is." Spencer answered.

"Well, I don't know if you also recognized that but Hanna behaved sorta weird today. At least that's what I think."

"Mmh. Now that you say it, you're right. I was pretty focused on my exam in math and therefor didn't really think about it but yes, she was less talkative."  
"She didn't listen at all when we were talking. I'm just a little worried about something being wrong with her. We haven't had those kinds of deep conversations lately because Mona is always with us and I don't know how and what to ask her."  
"Maybe she has had problems at home?"  
"I don't think so, she didn't look as if she had cried and that's what she usually looks like when she has had arguments with her mom."  
"We could call her and ask if she wanted to come over or meet us in general."  
"Okay."

Aria meant, grabbed her phone and dialed Hanna's number. It only took some seconds for her to pick up.

"Hey." Hanna answered it.

"Hey Han, it's Aria and Spencer is here too. We were wondering if you wanted to join us?"  
"I'd love to but I gotta do so much stuff at home."  
"What stuff?"  
"Homework and dinner."  
"Can't you free an hour or so for your best friends? We can also come over and help you, so you'll get everything done fast."  
"Well, okay. Come over then." Hanna agreed hanging up without a further word.

"That was overwhelming." Spencer said neutral as always.

"What?"

"The wave of enthusiasm when she realized she had no option but spend time with us."

Aria boxed her friend and called the waiter to pay. As they stood up, Spencer sighed.

"Oh, no. It's still raining and we gotta walk."

Although it was summer, Aria soon started to shiver as they stepped out of the shop and she could feel the cold rain on her skin. Of course she hadn't taken a coat with her this morning, why would she?

Her weather app had predicted a warm and sunny day. Well, at least she had learned not to rely on that now.

It took Spencer some minutes of walking to realize that Aria was not wearing a coat and already soaking wet.

"Hey, why didn't you say something?" Spencer said, breaking the mixture of silence and rain drops hitting the cracked asphalt.

"That wouldn't have reduced the rain." Aria admitted smiling.

"You can have my coat. You're always getting sick so easily and you know that."

Aria interrupted her from already undressing her coat, saying: "Spence, I'm wet anyway, and I don't want you to get wet too. We are there in a couple of minutes, just keep your coat. I'll be okay."

* * *

When they arrived at the Marin's house, Spencer rang the bell to make Hanna open the door.

"Oh my god." Hanna mumbled, returning to the inside and handling the two towels. "Come in."

Warming up in the living room, Hanna looked at Aria who was cuddled up to her towel but still shivering a little.

"Han?" Spencer asks, carefully wanting to point out the reason for their visit.

"Mmh."  
"There is something we wanted to talk about and to be honest, that's why we walked all the way here. We had the feeling that you were not doing well at school and just wanted to check on you."  
"I told you I was okay." Hanna mumbled.

"Han, I know you long enough to tell when you are lying." Aria said in response. "You know that you can tell us anything?"

"I do, that's not the point."  
"What's the point then? Don't be annoyed but we are just trying to figure out what's bothering you."  
"That's it. I'm figuring that out too. What I mean is that I've been feeling in a little strange way for some time, but I don't really know what it is. I don't know."

"In which way?" Aria continued asking.

"I don't know, Ari. I really don't. I just keep thinking about things in a wrong way but I'm not sure about how yet and don't feel ready to talk about it. With anyone." Her voice was calm while she says that, not angry at all.

"That's okay, of course. We just want you to know that if you need somebody to talk to, we'll be there for you. No matter what or when. You can call us at any time." Spencer added, being interrupted by Aria sneezing.

"Sorry." She sighed. "Don't say I told you."  
"But I did." Spencer meanst laughing.

* * *

On her way home, Aria couldn't stop her thoughts from circling around Hanna and what she said. As she was laying in her bed later that evening, she still couldn't think of anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

Hanna glanced at the clock next to her bed. Although she was exhausted and tired, she couldn't fall asleep that night.

After trying for another half an hour, Hanna sat up in her bed and leaned her head against the cold wall. She didn't know what to think.

Her head was so full by all these thoughts circling around that it was almost empty again.

She stood up quiet to not make her mom realize she was awake.

Hanna wasn't in the mood for any sort of late night conversation right now, especially not with her mom.

Usually she got along with her really well but at the moment she figured that it wasn't the right time to talk to her. It would be one of these conversations leading into nothing.

Hanna slipped into a pair of sneakers that lay in the corner of her bed room and grabbed a coat that was hanging on the chair next to her.

* * *

Stepping out, Hanna instinctively wrapped the coat tighter around her body.

It was a typical summer night and she could still smell the rain in the now dry air. Some street lamps on the other end of the road lightened the overwhelming darkness.

Hanna just walked for a couple of minutes and luckily the cold night air calmed her down and freed her mind from everything that kept her from sleeping.

She didn't even know what time it had been when she had left but actually didn't care. Probably it was about three.

The sun hadn't started to rise yet and nobody else was visible out here. Maybe nobody else was kept from sleeping by his own mind and had to wander around in the night all alone.

Hanna knew that if either her mom or any of her friends knew what she was doing, they would be mad at her for being irresponsible and not making sure she was safe.

She used to be afraid of the darkness, of not being able to see what was hiding in the black nowhere. This night was somehow different.

The darkness didn't seem to hide anything bad but made things look more innocent. At least that's what Hanna thought.

When she was about to reach the woods, Hanna turned into another direction and walked through the small streets of rosewood considering all the dark windows.

The only house in which the light bulbs were still glowing, was at the end of one of the streets. Hanna stopped for a moment and watched the shadow behind the already closed curtain moving. It was a girl with long hair that walked her room up and down.

She did nothing but walk. Up and down. Up and down. Again, and again. She was obviously unable to sleep as well. She suddenly got closer to the window, reaching for it to open it and Hanna walked away fast.

If she had turned around, Hanna would have seen some curly black hair hanging out of the window. But she didn't.

Instead, Hanna returned to her house and although she looked like crap the next morning because she hadn't slept at all, she didn't wear any make-up within mascara.

If the people didn't have to do anything better than stare at her, then they should. She didn't care today.

* * *

While Hanna was crossing the school yard, she suddenly heard a voice next to her ear.

"Hey."

Turning her head to the right, Hanna looked at the new girl Emily. "Hey."

They kept walking next to each other, none of them knowing what to say next.

"I think I'm a really bad company today." Hanna meant apologizing for remaining silent.

"I didn't think that." Emily responded smiling shy. "Not at all."  
"So you like walking next to me when you could have a better conversation with the wall over there?"

"Stop." Emily laughed. "I'm not one to talk to walls."  
"Well, you're talking to me which today is pretty much the same."  
"I guess you're not a morning person then?"  
"Oh, I just haven't slept much last night. Okay, not at all."  
"Sleeping is overrated." Emily said and now that Hanna really looked into her face for the first time, she could see that Emily looked just as tired as she felt.

Hanna thought about asking her what was it that had kept her awake, but she didn't because firstly she didn't want to get to personal and secondly the bell ended their conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

After a long day of forcing herself to keep her eyes open and earning some looks from either Aria or Spencer, Hanna was happier than ever before as she finally got to leave the building. Hanna sat down in her car and sighed.

She had barely talked to her friends today because of a lack of time but also because she kinda had avoided to rush into another of these conversations with them.

Hanna started to drive and as she left the parking, she saw Emily walking on the side walk. Hanna stopped by and turned her window down, asking:  
"Um, do you want me to give you a lift?"

"I really don't wanna take your time."  
"It's okay, get in."

Emily led Hanna to her house and although she didn't remember ever having been here, Hanna felt familiar with it. Turning the engine off, Hanna looked at Emily and her curly hair. She looked athletic closer up, especially her shoulders.

"It…It was really nice of you to drive me home. My car is arriving this evening and I missed the bus."  
"No problem. I anyway hadn't to do anything particular."  
"Would you like to see my room maybe? I mean you needn't but if you want to."  
Surprised by that, Hanna still nodded, and they got out.

* * *

"My mom is shopping because our fridge is sorta empty and I guess my dad isn't there yet."  
"What is he working as?" Hanna asked although she knew. She didn't want to appear as a stalker.

"Oh, he is a soldier. He changed the navy base but actually that doesn't make much as a difference because he spends most of his working hours in foreign countries."

"Wait, he does fight?"  
"Yes, unfortunately he does. On the one hand I'm proud of him doing this for our country but on the other hand I never know how to deal with him being gone. Well, we got some good news yesterday. He won't have to serve this year and is gonna work in the base."  
"That's good, isn't it?"  
"It is. It really is." Emily said, opening the front door. "Come in. I know it's messy because we didn't find the time to get everything in the right order and part of the furniture is still on its way from Cali. My room is upstairs."  
"Should I get rid of my shoes?"  
"No, crap. It's fine. Just follow me upstairs."

"It's nice." Hanna meant looking around. "Pretty big."  
"Yes, it is much bigger than my old one. I actually like it, but I'm not used to it yet."  
In a smaller room that was connected to Emily's, there was a door in the ceiling. A ladder was leant against it. Emily went over there, climbed up and opened the door.

"There is some sorta garden on the roof. We can go and see it."  
Hanna wasn't that thrilled by the idea of climbing up a roof but still set her feet on the ladder and reached for it.

She climbed up slowly to Emily who was already standing on the top. The first thing Hanna saw as she reached it, were the chimneys of almost every house in rosewood.

"Up here you can literally see the whole town." Emily said smiling as she had an overlook. "And you're closer to the stars. All alone, I mean. I like the idea of that."  
Hanna finally stood next to her and leaned her back against the chimney. Meanwhile Hanna forced herself to keep calm, Emily went to the edge and leaned forward to look at the people walking down there.

"Be careful." Hanna said, watching her lean over.

"Come over here and look. You can see so much better from here."  
Hanna stepped forward although her legs were shaky and glanced down, directly staggering backwards.

"Hey, Are you okay? You look a little pale." Emily meant, considering Hanna.

"Um. I…I just don't really like height." Hanna admitted.

Emily reached for her hand. "You're shaking."  
Not just because of the building Hanna thought but didn't say anything. "We better get down here." Emily said, walking Hanna back to the door.

This time it was Hanna to go first because Emily didn't want to leave her up here alone.

When both of them were back in the room, Hanna sighed relieved.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows worriedly as she closed the door and jumped down the ladder.

"Uhu." Hanna nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me? You should have said something."  
"I think I thought it was embarrassing not to be able to look down some feet."  
"It's not at all." Emily answered. "Really."

"I have never in a lifetime held such sweaty hands." She added laughing which made Hanna blush.

"I'm sorry."  
"You needn't be. It was me making you go up there."

* * *

Emily went downstairs and returned with some coffee. "Pay attention, it's hot." She said, handling it to Hanna who was looking at a picture on the desk.

"Can I ask something?"

"Sure."  
"Is that your boyfriend on this picture?"  
Emily started to laugh again. "No, no it's not. That's my dad when he was younger."  
"Oh." Hanna started laughing too.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Emily asked then.

"Um, no I don't."  
"But have you ever been in love?" she continued.

"I'm not sure. Maybe once but it was rather a crush. What about you?"  
Now it was Emily to blush.

"What's wrong? Did I say something?"  
"No, it's just that I've never had a boyfriend because I'm gay."  
Hanna didn't know what exactly to respond. After having taken a breath, she said. "Well, I don't mind. That's cool of you to tell me."  
What she thought was a little different from that, especially when Emily asked: "Okay, cool. So, it doesn't change anything?"  
Hanna's glance wandered down Emily's neck to her hip and up again. Her legs were just as athletic as her upper part. Hanna figured that she seemed to like athletic.


	5. Chapter 5

Hanna sat next to Aria in religion, wondering whether this lessen could somehow pass before she was gonna die of boredom.

As soon as the old teacher had turned them his back ones again, Aria took her chair and got a little closer to make talking without being spotted easier.

"Han?" she whispered, keeping her head straight to the board. "What?"  
"Wanna spend lunch with us?"  
"Of course, why wouldn't I?"  
"Dunno, I'm just asking."  
"Aria, are you mad at me for not talking to you?"  
"No, no we aren't mad at all, Han. Really." "Okay then. Quarter past in the cafeteria?"  
"Well."  
"Miss Montgomery!" Th teacher shouted through the class. "I believe we would all be glad about you sharing your great ideas not only with Miss Marin but the entire class."  
"Um." Aria blushed. "I…It didn't have anything to do with the class."

"Then please pay attention now or at try at least not to distract the others."

Although there wasn't a single person in this class that would not like any kind of distraction from religion, Aria leaned back sighing and kept quiet, changing some annoyed looks with Hanna.

* * *

When Hanna walked to her locker after the lesson to put her heavy books in there, a paper fell out of it as she opened the door.

Having closed the locker, Hanna had a look on it.

 _Everybody can see how you are staring at her. You are going straight to hell, maybe we'll meet there? -A_

Suddenly Hanna felt a hand on her back. "Hanna?"  
She started, having completely been concentrated on the piece of paper in her hand. Turning around, she saw Emily right in front of her and hided the paper in her hand.

"Everything alright?"  
Hanna so wanted to tell her it wasn't, that nothing seemed to be alright lately, and she didn't know how to deal with it. She opened her mouth but then closed it again and just nodded her head.

Although Emily felt like she wasn't, she couldn't keep on talking to her right now and had to leave for swim practice.

Once she was alone again, Hanna walked straight to the ladies' room and locked the cabin door behind her, sinking down onto the ground.

* * *

"What time is it?" Aria asked, interrupting Spencer from eating her noodles.

"Two minutes later than the last time you asked, half past one."  
"Do you have anything else to worry about within winning a world record for the most noodles eaten in fifteen minutes?" Aria snapped.

"I'm sorry, Ari. I haven't had breakfast this morning because I was being nervous about the test in math and couldn't bring myself to eat something."  
"Well, you obviously overcame that problem. I'm gonna call her." Aria decided, dialing Hanna's number.

"She doesn't pick up."

"What should have happened? Do you think she was eaten by a zombie?"  
"Stop, Spencer. I just wonder why she would forget meeting us and not pick up her phone."  
"We are talking about Hanna."  
"Yes but she isn't herself at the moment. I think we should go and see if we can find her."  
"Okay but not before you have eaten something. I'm not gonna walk around with you on a low blood sugar level, believe me."  
Aria ate up as fast as she could, and they then got up, walking the corridors for Hanna.

* * *

"Hanna? Are you in here?" Aria asked as she entered the ladies' room followed by Spencer. Although there was no response, the two checked the cabins figuring out that only one of them was locked.

Knelling down, Aria nodded her head looking towards Spencer.

She knocked the door.

"Hey. It's Aria and Spencer. Open up, please."  
No answer.

"Listen, Hanna I know you are in there and we are just worried about you. Please, Han."  
Aria leaned her head against the door, hearing an almost inaudible sob from the inside. It was Spencer to talk now.

"Hanna? If you don't open up, at least say something because we wanna make sure you are okay."  
"I…I'm okay." Hanna's shaky voice came out of the cabin.

"Han…" Spencer mumbled sorta relieved. "Can you just do us a favor and unlock the door? Can you?" Her voice was calm and not forcing at all as she said that and surprisingly the door lock turned round slowly only a couple of seconds later.

Pushing the door open, the two looked into Hanna's face, the mascara messed up over her cheeks. Aria said nothing but stepped into the cabin, wrapped her arms around Hanna and held her tight while she felt her body shaking under the cry.

She rubbed her friends back gently. "It's okay. It's okay, Hanna."

It took some minutes until Hanna was finally calmed down.

"Do you…do you wanna tell us what happened?"

Seeing Hanna's eyes fill with tears again, Spencer raised her eyebrows worriedly. The last tame Hanna had been so done was when her parents had divorced.

"I-I am just afraid of you being mad at me." Hanna murmured. "I found this letter in my locker."

"What letter?" aria asked.

Hanna pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and handled it to her friends.

"What does that mean?" Aria continued asking.

"Don't you get it?" Hanna meant, embarrassed staring at the ground.

Aria reread the letter.

"Wait, does this A-person think you're gay?" Spencer interrupted.

Hanna nodded her head.

"Is that true?" Aria asked carefully.

"I'm not sure. I…maybe. Maybe…yes. I think so." Hanna admitted swiping some tears away that were now rolling down her cheeks again.

"Han." Aria mumbled. "That's it?"  
"What that's it?" Hanna sobbed confused and done.

"Hey listen. That's not at all something to cry about." Spencer said. "Hanna, that's a good thing. Stop crying. We are not mad at you, why would we be? We love you no matter who you are with. Don't you that?"

"You do?"  
"We do." Aria nods. "Always."


	6. Chapter 6

Hanna lay on her couch as she fingered her phone out of her jacket. Although her face was still a little puffy from crying, Hanna still couldn't stop herself from writing the message.

 _It's Hanna. I gotta talk to u._

 _Something serious?_

 _Dunno, somehow yes but not that much. Can I come over?_

 _Yeah, of course. C u._

* * *

"Hey."

"Come in." Emily meant opening the door.

"Is…Is your mom here?"  
"No, my parents are both visiting friends of them in Philly over the weekend. Do I have to worry?" Emily asked, referring to the state of Hanna's face.

"I just gotta tell you something. Don't freak out."  
"I won't."  
"We don't really know each other, right?"  
"Not that well."  
"I don't know but probably this here would be developing in a friendship and don't get me wrong, it's not that I wouldn't want to be friends with you, but I don't think I can be this sort of friends with you. Get what I mean?"

Hanna finished, not even realizing how fast she'd been talking.

A little smile hushed over Emily's face as she understood what Hanna had just said.

"I don't think that too."  
"No, no. I believe you're getting me wrong, Emily." Hanna sighed.

"I don't think I'm getting you wrong, you meant I couldn't be a friend to you right?"  
"Kinda."  
"Well, that's what I'm saying. I don't wanna be a friend to you."

With that, Emily leaned forward and only a couple of seconds later, Hanna could feel her warm and soft lips on hers.

She had never realized what a pretty color hazelnut brown was until she had looked straight into the prettiest eyes she had ever looked into.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I know this is a short one but I wanted to keep it alike. Hope you like my story? I would be really glad about suggestions concerning the plot. Happy Halloween by the way.3  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Her heart was beating incredibly fast as Emily slowly pulled away and they looked at each other.

"Wow." Hanna mumbled literally inaudible.

"Did you mean this?" Emily responded, blushing a little.

"Exactly."  
"Was it the first time you kissed a girl?"  
"Yes but it was better than any kiss I had with a boy ever before." Hanna admitted which made Emily smile.

Hanna couldn't turn her eyes away from Emily, in disbelief of what had just happened. Not even in her dreams she had imagined this reaction.

"Is this why you cried?" Emily asked, gently tucking a stray stand of hair behind Hanna's ear.

Hanna nodded her head.

"I somehow have known it for a while but the feeling that I'm gay got stronger and stronger and the day you arrived in our school it just…exploded."  
"At first I thought you were straight but then I had this instinctive feeling that you weren't. I don't know what about you let me know."  
A smile hushed over Hanna's face as she reached for Emily's hand that was laying close to her knee.

"I'm glad you had that instinct. I'm glad we met."

Emily didn't let go of her hand but kept holding it tight while leaning forward and kissing Hanna ones again.

She sank down on her while kissing and without even thinking about it Hanna grabbed Emily's t-shirt and ribbed it off, kissing her neck.

Meanwhile Emily reached down, unbuttoning Hanna's jeans and letting go of them and Hanna fumbled with the hooks of Emily's bra.

All of this happened in only a couple of seconds and soon Hanna found herself exploring the inside of Emily's mouth with her tongue.

Emily's one hand wandered down Hanna's curvy hip and slid underneath it, checking if Hanna was okay with that by shortly making eye contact with her.

Keeping steadily pumping her fingers in and out of Hanna's center, she could soon feel Hanna draw nearer and nearer to orgasm.

Emily's abrupt movements made Hanna moan silently and some sweat was already pearling down her forehead.

Hanna sunk back down into the soft bed, tangling her fingers in Emily's curly hair and sighed, barely being able to take a breath.

When her contractions subsided, Emily slowly withdrew her fingers from Hanna's body rolling herself back into a laying position on the mattress next to Hanna.

* * *

"Everything okay?" she asked, lifting her head a little to consider her.

"Yeah." Hanna was still trying to catch her breath, but a wide smile hushed over her face as she looked into Emily' face.

"You're good." She added as Emily moved closer to her to lay her head down on her shoulder and Hanna wrapped an arm around her. "More than that."  
"Thanks." Emily mumbled somehow proud, cuddling up to the blonde.

In the following moment of silence, Emily did nothing but listen to the fast beat of Hanna's heart in her chest.

"Han?"

Hanna could feel Emily's breath on her warm skin as she started to talk.

"Yeah?"  
"Do you think you can stay with me tonight? I don't wanna be alone."  
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere. My mom is anyway out tonight."

Relieved, Emily let her head sink back down and before both fell asleep, she grabbed the blanket, pulling it over them.

That night Hanna had not only no problem with falling asleep but also felt completely happy and comfortable.


	8. Chapter 8

"I can't believe that it's been a month since you guys hooked up, somehow time is passing by so fast." Aria meant as she was walking down the floor next to Hanna.

"You sound like my gran, Ari." Hanna smirked. "No, sorry. I know what you mean, you're right. I can't believe that too. Where is Spencer by the way? Too busy to have lunch?"  
"Um, yeah. She said something about having to go to a debate club meeting this morning."  
"I wonder how she can participate in all these extra curriculars." Hanna said, shaking her head when Emily suddenly appeared from the back and wrapped her arms around Hanna's neck.

"Hey." Hanna sounded much more enthusiastically now that she turned around and saw Emily right in front of her. She immediately felt her heart beating faster as she twisted her fingers in between Emily's.

"You okay with holding hands in public?" Emily wondered. "I mean because you're not out to your mom."

"I decided to tell her. I just think I spend too much time on thinking about other people's thoughts on me."  
With that, Emily smiled satisfied and they kept on walking to the cafeteria next to Aria when Mona passed by.

Her glance directly drifted to Hanna's and Emily's hands and although she didn't make any comment in that moment, Hanna knew she would call her later and start gossiping. She liked Mona but sometimes she was a little insensitive.

* * *

As Hanna entered the kitchen, her mom was just ending a call and had now finished work for today. Seeing her daughter, a smile hushed over Ashley Marin's face.

All Hanna could think was if that smile would be gone in a couple of seconds, but still forced herself to smile back.

"Hey darling." Ashley said, putting the phone done.

"Mom?"  
"Yes?"  
"There's something I've been wanting to talk about." Hanna started, making her mom pay attention.

"What is it?"  
"Um, it's kinda difficult for me because I don't know how you're going to react."  
"Just tell me."  
"I'm dating somebody."  
"Oh, Hanna!" Ashley responded smiling brightly. "Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?"  
"That's the point, mom. Her name is Emily. I'm gay."  
Hanna had expected her mom to be mad or at least disappointed. She had expected her to cry or throw her out, but she didn't even seem surprised.

"Now it's me to ask you to not be mad." Her mom admitted. "I know you are gay, Han. I just wanted you to be completely sure yourself and therefor didn't talk to you."  
"Wait, what? How…How did you?"  
"I'm your mom. Moms know their children better than they would like to."  
"And you are okay with that?"  
"All I want is you to be happy. No matter if you're dating a girl or not. I'm just glad you love somebody. You love her, don't you?"  
Hanna blushed a little.

"I do. Yes, I really do."  
"Maybe she wants to come over for a dinner somewhen? She is always welcome in our house, let her know that. But Hanna, same rule as for boys. You're not sleeping in the same bed in this house."  
"Oh mom…"  
"Okay. The fact that a pregnancy is no risk now probably makes this rule useless. I anyway think you have grown enough to take the responsibility for your own behavior."  
"Thank you so much. You don't know how much I appreciate that mom. That means everything to me. I love you."  
"I love you too."


	9. Chapter 9

On the weekend:

 _Hey Em, I was wondering if you wanted to go out on the weekend? Now that my mom knows everything…_

 _Xoxo Hanna_

 _Hey, Of course! I'd love to. No swim practice this weekend so we can go whenever we want. What are we gonna do? Xoxo_

 _What about cinema? Today's evening? There is an Emma Watson film on._

 _Okay, cool. I'll come pick you up at eight?_

Yes, thanks. Love u.

 _Love u too._

* * *

It had been a warm and sunny day and when Hanna left the house, she could still feel a little sun on her skin although it was almost dawning. Just in that moment, Emily's car speeded among the corner and broke right in front of her house.

Sitting down next to Emily, Hanna leaned over and gently kissed her.

They arrived in time and although both of them had been looking forward on seeing the movie, neither of them could really concentrate on what was going on on the screen.

After a couple of minutes, Hanna's hand reached for the popcorn and simultaneously touched Emily's soft finger tips.

"How am I supposed to concentrate on that movie?" Emily whispered.

"That's what I'm also trying to figure out." Hanna responded brushing a lock of hair out of Emily's face to at least see a little of her in the anyway dark room.

As the movie went on, Emily slowly put her head on Hanna's shoulder and Hanna lifted her arm to put it around Emily.

They kept sitting there alike until the lights were turned back on.

* * *

"Did you like the movie?" Hanna asked when they were leaving the cinema.

"Honestly I didn't pay much attention to it." Emily admitted. "I almost fell asleep, you're so comfortable."  
Stepping out, Hanna realized how late it had gotten. It was completely dark, and the streetlights' small cones barely lightened the darkness. Emily instinctively reached for Hanna's hand, feeling much safer alike.

Emily's blouse was flattering in the wind and Hanna noticed that the night air had become increasing much colder. Getting closer to Emily, she could feel her slight body tremors.

Hanna let go of her hand and pulled her coat off, handling it to Emily.

"Here, put this on." Hanna meat slipping the coat over Emily's shoulders and wrapping one arm around her.

"Thank you." Emily answered smiling grateful. "But you'll get cold now."  
"I'll be fine, Em. You're already shivering, and we will reach the car soon."

This time it was Hanna to drive although it was Emily's car. Now that it had gotten late and Emily had had much practice this week, Hanna had recognized how tired she was.

Emily's head sank immediately down on the window and falling asleep, she faintly smelled Hanna's perfume on her warm and cuddly coat.

Hanna watched her from the side while she drove among the abandoned streets of rosewood. All Hanna thought was how somebody could be so beautiful.

* * *

Arriving at Emily's house, Hanna turned the engine off and gently stroke Emily's back to wake her up.  
Emily opened her eyes slowly.

"Sorry for waking you up but we are there." Hanna said while Emily got back into a sitting position and yawned.

"But Hanna, how are you getting home now?" Emily asked. "I can drive you."  
"I don't think that's a good idea." Hanna meant considering her sleepy girlfriend.

"You can stay over, I won't let you walk back home."  
"Sure?"  
"Of course." Emily smiled slightly.

"Okay then, I'm texting my mom."

The two sneaked upstairs to not wake Emily's parents up that were obviously already in bed. Emily slipped off her shoes and then lay down on the soft mattress, spooning up to Hanna as soon as she was lying next to her.

"I love you." Emily whispered.

"I love you too." Hanna responded almost inaudible before falling asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

When Hanna woke up the next morning, she didn't know where she was at first. One eye opened, she looked around and finally recognized the bed room as Emily's.

"Han?" Emily's voice came from her back and sounded like she hadn't been awake for so long as well.

"Uhu."  
"Are you awake?"  
"I just woke up." Hanna mumbled, half of her face covered with the blanket.

Emily pulled her hand out of the fluffy warmness and tangled her fingers into Hanna's messy hair, gently stroking her head.

She then sat up, brushed Hanna's hair back and started kissing her neck going downwards. Hanna was directly awake as she felt Emily's lips on her skin, wandering down her back.

Soon, Emily had reached Hanna's hips and was now completely covered by the blanket.

She pulled Hanna's pants down and Hanna could feel her finger sliding into her center.

"Em." Hanna suddenly said.

"What?" Emily's head appeared from under the blanket, her finger still where it used to be.

"What about your parents?"  
"They won't burst in. My parents usually sleep much longer than I do."  
"Okay." Hanna answered, relaxing.

Only about quarter an hour somebody knocked the door which made Emily pull out and go back into her sleeping position, pushing Hanna's head down on the pillow.

"Mmh." She murmured and as the door opened, Pam Fields entered the still dark room. "Oh, sorry darling, I didn't know you were still asleep. I just wanted to tell you that dad and I are going to the mall now, breakfast is in the kitchen.

Right then, Hanna lifted her head a little and Pam glanced at her.

Her lips formed a silent 'Hanna?', Emily nodded her head and Pam kissed her daughter's forehead before she left the room and closed the door behind.

"Nobody will burst in?" Hanna smiled. "What if she hadn't knocked?"  
"You're right, we should have been more careful. Sorry."

Emily sat up in the bed and tight her hair back in a ponytail.  
"The risk was worth it, Em." Hanna smirked.

"You bet! What about breakfast?"  
"I'd kill for a coffee, believe me." Hanna answered, getting up fast and walking downstairs followed by Emily.

* * *

When they were sitting in the kitchen, Emily's mobile rang. She opened the message and sighed.

"You okay, Em?" Hanna asked wondering.

"Um, yes. It's just a message from my coach who asks us for an extra athletic session this afternoon. We have competition this Monday."  
"Oh, okay. You don't wanna go there, do you?"  
"Not really because I was happy about having one free weekend, but I have to."

"When is it?"  
"In three hours, we have enough time to eat and get ready without having to be on a rush."  
Hanna took a sip of her coffee and then grabbed a croissant.

* * *

"Hurry up, girls. My grandma is faster than you and she has got a rollator!" Coach Clayton shouted through the hall.

Emily glided into the pool and started to do the crawl.

After forty distances, she could barely feel her arms but still continued, constantly being watched by the coach who was now jogging up and down, motivating them to continue.

Well, shouting was his form of motivation Emily guessed.

As she had finished and was trying to catch her breath, he already shouted: "Okay. Another forty!"  
Emily shook her head. She loved swimming, but weekend practice was always incredibly hard.

When the girls finally got to get out of the basin, the coach stopped them from walking away.

"It's me finishing the practice, not you." He meant.

"But we…we already did half an hour longer." One girl mumbled.

"Do you wanna win this competition or relax at pool parties?" he asked in anger. "Thirty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, twenty pull-ups each of you."  
Hearing the group sigh, he looked at them, shaking his head and added: "Twice. Motivation has to come from you. That's why you're here because you wanna reach something and to reach something you have to work, work and work."  
He blew his whistle and the girls started doing his exercises in the fitness borough of the swimming center. At first Emily shivered because her skin was wet and cold but that soon turned into sweating. When they finally got to go it was six pm.

Emily took a shower, dried her hair and drove back home.

All she wanted to do now was sleep but still had to finish a couple of homework including an history essay.

It took longer than she had expected it to and getting more and more tired, she fell asleep on her desk by eleven pm.

As Emily woke up by her alarm clock, she felt as if she hadn't slept at all. She could barely keep her eyes open and he throat was itching badly, not to mention the sour taste in her mouth.

Probably it had been a bad idea to do the workout in her wet swimming suit, but she had had no option. Usually Emily would have stayed in bed, but today was the day of the competition.

She had to go.

Although she hadn't any appetite, Emily forced herself to eat some cereals now that she had already left out dinner and didn't want her mom to realize that she wasn't feeling well.

"You look a little pale." Her mom still said as she left for work.  
"No, I'm fine. That's just the light." Emily meant but as soon as the door was closed, she had a bad coughing fit.

She checked the medicine board but couldn't find any aspirin or so and left for school. Her dad had an early shift this morning and must have gone to work a couple of hours ago.

* * *

"Hey Emily." Spencer said.  
"Hey Spencer." Emily answered in a hoarse voice. "Have you seen Hanna?"  
"Yes, she is over there with Aria." Spencer pointed, walking on to the teacher's room to handle her extra homework in.

"Morning." Hanna smiled, kissing Emily's cheek. "You're warm." She meant, considering Emily's glassy eyes. "Are you sick?"  
"A little maybe." Emily admitted.

"Why are you here then?" Hanna asked, trying to sound strict.

"I have competition and we're only allowed to participate if we've been at school."  
"But if you're not feeling well, you should not swim, Em."  
"It's not that bad, Han. Just a cold. I gotta go to math now, see you at lunch?"

"Of course."

When Emily had left, Aria stepped forward. "I really don't wanna interfere, but she didn't look like just a cold."  
"No, you' re right she didn't. I'm pretty sure she was feeling much worse than she admitted."  
"You better keep an eye on her." Aria sighed.

* * *

"Em, come on. You've to eat something." Hanna said looking at her untouched food.  
"I'm eating, I was just checking my phone." Emily lied, grabbed her fork and started eating the noodles on her plate. She felt like crap and additionally to the cold, she was nauseous.

Watched by Hanna, Emily continued eating although she was literally disgusted by only the idea of doing so.

Her stomach didn't agree with that as well. Just some seconds later, Emily was feeling even worse and drank something to suppress the nausea.  
"Hey." Hanna mumbled, considering her. "You look really pale, Em. Are you okay?"  
"I'm fi-…" Emily started to say but in right that moment, she was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of nausea and jumped up, leaving the cafeteria with her mouth covered with her hand.

Aria and Hanna who had been sitting next to her, ran after Emily and left Spencer who was completely concentrated on the book in front of her, alone.

Emily ran into the girl's washroom, pushed the first cabin open and reached the toilet just in time. She leaned forward retching.

Throwing up, Emily could feel a hand pulling her hair back. Hanna.

While she had to vomit a second and third time, Hanna draw circles on her back, trying to calm her down.

When she had finally finished, Emily's head sank down exhausted on the white porcelain.  
"Han?" Asked Aria who had waited in front of the cabin because Hanna knew she would run the risk to throw up herself watching Emily do so. "Shall I go get the nurse?"  
"Not yet, thank you."  
Focused on Emily again, Hanna asked: "Oh, Em. Do you think you're going to throw up again?"  
"No…" Emily answered almost inaudible. "My stomach is empty, I guess."

Hanna wrapped one arm around her, pulling her head up a little. Emily rested it on her shoulder, mumbling: "I'm sorry, Han."

"It's going to be okay, don't apologize. How are you feeling?"

"I'm dizzy." Emily admitted in a weak voice.

"Do you want Aria to get the nurse?"  
"I just wanna go home."

"Okay. Aria?"  
"Yes?"  
"Can you please call Emily in sick?"  
"Of course. Get well soon, Em. Are you going to get her home?"  
"Yes, I'm skipping the last lessons."  
"Okay, good luck."

Hanna helped Emily slowly get into a standing position. They left through the back exit which was the shortest way to Hanna's car. Emily was barely under the condition to walk and Hanna thanked god when they had finally reached the car.

Hanna drove her car extra slow to not make Emily feel even worse.

Arriving at the Field's house, Hanna got out and opened Emily's door.

When she looked at her, Hanna realized that after the ride here her anyway pale face had gotten even paler in a green shade.

Hanna wasn't sure if Emily could make it to the house. Because she was taller and Emily a real light weight, Hanna wrapped her arm around her and carefully lifted her up. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Thank you." Emily murmured exhausted when Hanna lay her down on her bed, pulled her shoes of and covered her with the blanket.. Hanna went down again to put a bin next to Emily's bed and handle her some water.

She then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Get some sleep, sweetheart." Hanna whispered, gently stroking her leg until Emily fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Emily woke up about one hour later. She opened her eyes one by one, feeling feverish. Hanna who was still sitting on the bed's edge, saw Emily waking up and approached to her.

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you doing?" Hanna asked.

"Um. I don't know, I'm feeling like crap actually." Emily coughed.

"Here, take these. They're going to decrease your temperature." Hanna meant, handling her some medication and a glass of water. Emily swallowed them.

"You're going to catch my flu too." She said.

"Oh, Em. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Hanna answered, brushing some hair behind her ear. "Do you wanna eat something maybe? You literally ate nothing today and if so, you got rid of that."  
"I'm not hungry but I can try to." Emily gave way.

Hanna walked downstairs, searching the boards for crackers and returned to Emily's bedroom with them.

Helping Emily sit up in the bed, Hanna gave her the bowl with crackers and watched her eat at least a couple of them. It was obvious that she had no appetite.

"By the way, I phoned your mom while you were still asleep. She is going to arrive by early evening because she has some very important clients, but she asked me to tell you that she would cancel her meetings if you were going to need her."  
"I'm with you. You're staying with me, aren't you?"  
"Of course I am. Are you still feeling sick?" Hanna asked worried.  
"A little but it's okay. I don't think I've eaten enough to have to throw up again." Emily meant, resting her head on Hanna's shoulder. "Thank you so much for getting me home." She mumbled.

"No matter."  
Hanna saw Emily fall back asleep from the corner of her eye and leaned back, preparing on having to stay in this position for some time. Although Hanna wasn't tired at all and it was the middle of the day, she still slept in after a couple of minutes.

* * *

Entering the house, Pam was surprised by the silence. She closed the door behind herself and walked upstairs to find Emily and Hanna in her bed. Both of them were sleeping, surrounded by a bin, medication and crackers that had fallen out of the bowl.

Pam knelt down and carefully shook Hanna's shoulder to awake her.

"Hanna." She whispered.

"Hanna, wake up."

Hanna carefully rested Emily on the pillow, making sure she wouldn't wake up and then followed Pam downstairs into the kitchen.

"Misses Fields, I just want you to know that we didn't mean to sleep in one bed together. I must have fallen asleep accidentally, I'm really sorry…"  
"Hanna." Pam said interrupting her. "At first call me Pam and at second I didn't want to shout on you but thank you for being there for Emily. She is very happy to have someone like you."

Surprised, Hanna didn't know what to say. "Oh, thank you." She stuttered.

"I just woke you up to let you know that you can go home and relax a little if you want to. How is Emily doing?"

"She threw up three times at school but ate some crackers here. She got a couple hours of sleep. Emily said she was feeling dizzy and sick and I also handled her some medication because her temperature wouldn't stop rising. I hope that's okay?"  
"Of course it is. Thank you very much Hanna. I really don't know what I would have done without you."  
When Hanna just wanted to leave, Emily suddenly appeared. Hanna saw her walking downstairs and although her legs were still shaky, she managed to get down.

"Em." Hanna meant returning back in. "Hey, you shouldn't walk around under this condition. Why didn't you stay in bed?" She asked gently.

"I know but I wanted to see you before you're leaving."

Pam left them alone, knowing that they wanted to be.

Hanna pulled Emily closer, wrapping her arms around her to make sure she would keep standing. She cuddled up in her big scarf and Hanna could feel Emily's breath on her neck.

"I love you." She said, into the warm flannel. "I'm so sorry for you skipping class for me and throwing up in front of you. That must have been disgusting."  
"Oh Em." Hanna mumbled. "Never apologize for being sick again. You needn't be sorry for anything, I promise. You weren't feeling well and by the way, seeing people throw up doesn't even bother me that much. The only thing that did bother me in that moment was that it was you doing it. I love you too."  
As Hanna considered Emily's sleepy face, she saw that her eyes were getting a little wet. Now that she was sick, she was obviously even more emotional than usually.

"Don't cry, please." Hanna said, wiping a single tear away.

"I'm just so happy to be with you. I can't even tell you how much you mean to me, Hanna."  
Now it was Hanna to get wet eyes.

"That's sweet, Emily. You know that you mean more than I could ever describe to me too and that's why I have to ask you for something. Go back to bed and try to sleep and also you have to promise me something."  
"Okay, I will go back to bed now. What is it?" Emily asked curios.

"Promise that every upcoming time you are not feeling well, you're going to tell me and not risk your health for anything. Not even swimming. Okay?"  
"Okay." Emily meant smiling a little again.

"I'm leaving now but you know that you can call me at any time."  
"I know. Love you."  
"Love you too, Em. Get well soon." Hanna said, stepping out of the door. "Goodbye misses Fields." She shouted to overhear the wind.

* * *

"Hey Hanna. It's Aria."  
"Oh, hey."  
"I was just wondering how Emily is doing. Did you get her home without any further trouble?"  
"Uhu, thank you for calling. I brought her home and she had some sleep. I'm just on my way home now, her mom is with her."  
"Okay. Do you think she caught the flu?"  
"Mmh, could be. I'm not exactly sure. She probably got a cold at swim practice or something and she's been a little overworked in the past weeks. Maybe that's why. All I hope is that she's going to feel better soon."  
"I hope that too, believe me. What about you? How are you doing, we haven't had much time to talk?"  
"I'm good actually. Emily really makes me happy. Maybe we could meet for a coffee or so. You, me and Spencer? We haven't done that in a while."  
"If you don't wanna relax at home, good idea. I'm calling Spencer to come to the coffee shop."  
"Yes, okay. I'm anyway on the car, so I'm gonna pick you up. I'll be at yours in some minutes, okay?"  
"Of course, thank you. Bye, Han."  
"Bye."


	12. Chapter 12

Spencer opened the message that had just popped on her screen, completely distracted from Hanna's and Aria's conversation.  
"What's wrong Spencer?" Aria asked, interrupting Hanna.

"I got a message."  
"So what? Are you afraid of contact to other human beings?" Hanna joked, rolling her eyes.

"That's not funny. It says: _**Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm here and I'm watching you. -A**_ "

Aria coughed, almost spilling her coffee.  
"Wait, A? I also got a letter from this A-person? Remember?" Hanna meant, looking around as if she would immediately figure out who A was.

"Hanna." Spencer sighed. "Do you think that person put up a sign so that we can recognize them better? There's a reason why they did not write their name."  
"Okay, Okay Spencer I get it. I'm not that dumb."  
"Stop arguing." Aria said, re-reading the message. "What kind of stupid joke is this?"  
"I don't know." Hanna mumbled. "Probably just some weirdo that thinks it's fun. Nothing to care about, just let A be."  
"Well, when you got a letter you _did_ care." Spencer reminded her.

"But that was different. That someone is anyway not here. It's some joke."  
"If you think so." Spencer said, knowing that Hanna wasn't somebody to argue with.

Although Spencer looked around couple of times in the first few minutes, she soon forgot about the message.

* * *

'Click.' Aria unlocked her car with the remote control when she had turned the street. Spencer and Hanna had left into the opposite direction to go home. She was about twenty meters from her car when she suddenly hurt a sound.

Aria started, turned around and looked for the cause but couldn't see anything. She was surrounded by the darkness and nothing else. At least nothing she could see.

She wanted to continue walking but then heard something again. Steps in the bushes right next to her. Aria wasn't one-hundred percent sure if it were steps and therefor went on.

Another sound. This time behind her.

Aria turned around slowly not wanting to see what was behind her back but as she did, she saw a black hooded person in front of her.

Aria screamed.

She couldn't make out the face or anything and was anyway too nervous to know what to do so she just ran, shouting Spencer's and Hanna's name while running into the other direction.

She could still hear the steps behind her, but the person wasn't running like she tried to but walking fast which creeped her out even more. She knew that it wouldn't be difficult for whoever was following her to reach her. A short-legged girl wearing heels.

"Spencer! Hanna!" Aria screamed panicking.

"Stop." Spencer said holding Hanna back. "What was that? Somebody screamed."  
"I didn't hear anything." Hanna answered confused and wanted to walk on but in right that moment she heard it too. Somebody screaming their names.

"Aria." Spencer said, and they turned around simultaneously, running around the corner and to where the screams came from.

"Go away!" Aria shouted. "Leave me alone! Help!" The person didn't react in anyway but got a little faster and closer. Aria tried to scream but was breathless from running.

She stumbled over a stone or something while turning around again and couldn't catch herself anymore but fell. Hitting the pedestrian crossing didn't even bother her because all she could think of was that person. Exactly in the moment she looked up, the hoodie appeared over her. Looking up all she saw was a face covered with a black mask.  
"No. No. Please don't." Aria mumbled, trying to slide backwards.

"Aria!" Spencer's voice made the person shrank back, turn around, have a last look at her and then run away straight through the bushes and disappear into the nowhere.

* * *

"Aria." Spencer and Hanna reached her only few seconds later. They knelled down to her friend on the ground.

Even in the moonlight Spencer could see the tears running down her face. She didn't say anything but wrapped her arms around her and held her tight.

She knew that Aria wasn't far away from a panic attack. Aria's body was shaking under her crying and it took a couple of minutes until she finally calmed down a little and stopped crying so Spencer could let go of her.

"What happened? Who was that person?" Hanna asked carefully.

"I-I don't know." Aria stuttered. "Somebody was behind me suddenly. I slipped away while running from him."  
Hanna's and Spencer glances crossed, both of them directly thought of the message. I'm watching you.

Each of them put an arm around Aria as they helped her back into a standing position.

"Are you hurt?" Spencer considered her worried. She turned on her phone's flash light to check on her.

"Your hands are a little messed up." Spencer meant. "But that's it." She gently stroked her back, leading her to a bench on the side. "You better sit down for a while still, I think."  
"Remember that message in the coffee shop?" Spencer asked then.

"Uh-hu. Do you think that was the same person?"  
"I think so, yes." Spencer nodded her head. "Did you see the face?"  
"Um, no." Aria sighed. "It was covered with a black mask. I don't even know if it was a boy or a girl."  
Just by the thought of it, Aria immediately wrapped her arms around herself, looking around.

"It's okay, Aria." Hanna said. "Whoever that was, is not here anymore."  
"How are you?" Spencer asked, knowing that no matter what she would say, she wasn't good.

"Okay I guess." Aria mumbled, still unable to realize what had just happened. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if her friends hadn't been there.

"It's getting pretty cold." Spencer added. "We can take you home if you want to."  
Aria nodded her head. She was very uncomfortable by the thought of sitting around only few meters from where a stranger had been after her.

"I can take her home." Spencer suggested. "You've had so much trouble with Emily being sick lately, you must be very tired."  
"Sure?"  
"Yes, it'll be okay. You can go home and get some sleep."  
"Okay, Spence. But call me if anything happens." Hanna meant.  
"I will."  
They walked back to their cars together and left Aria's there, wanting to pick it up somewhen later this week.

"Better?" Spencer asked when they were waiting on a red traffic light.

"Mmh." Aria responded. "It was the shock. I'm just asking myself why somebody would do this?"  
"I don't know. Maybe somebody who wanted to scare you. I don't think there was anything funny about it but that's what it was supposed to be probably."  
"I hope you're right." Aria said, resting her head on the window.

Her hands were covered with blood and mud, her trousers were dirty as well. But most important was that her friends had been there in time.

* * *

"Em?" Hanna asked.

"Hey Han." Emily answered the phone.

"How are you?"  
"I'm better, I'm going to be back in school again tomorrow."

"All sure you are good again?"  
"Yes, I haven't had any fever ever since and also eaten normally again without vomiting or so."  
"Okay then. I just wanted to make sure you didn't say you're good so that you can go swimming again."  
"I promised you I wouldn't do that again. But how are you doing, Han?"  
"I'm good actually."  
"You don't sound good, Han. Come on, what happened. You know you can tell me anything if you want to."  
"I am good but something weird happened."  
"What?"  
"We were in this coffee shop and somebody followed Aria to her car. She ran away from him and when we arrived the person was about to reach her because she had fallen."  
"Oh god. Is she okay?"  
"I don't know. As good as can be expected under the circumstances. Aria was shocked of course, Spencer took her home and I'm on the car too now."  
"Who was that?"  
"She said he or she wore a mask. We got some message before, saying I am watching you but we thought that would have been a stupid joke. I'm not sure about that anymore."  
"Did you go to the police?"  
"No, no we didn't. I mean what should we have told them? A black hooded, black masked person followed our friend?"  
"Okay, you're right. Did she hurt?"  
"Not badly. Just some scratches."  
Emily sighed. "Luckily you two were there."  
"Mmh. I'm still feeling bad."  
"Why?"  
"Because we let her walk to her car alone. I mean it was entirely dark we could have thought about that being a dump idea. Especially after this message.

She is really tiny and if somebody would want to hurt her, Aria had no chance."  
"Hanna, that's not your fault. That wasn't expectable, you needn't feel guilty."  
"Maybe." Hanna mumbled not entirely convinced.

"If you hadn't been there in time, so much worse things could have happened. You know that."  
"I do but I think we should have been more careful. Luckily nothing that bad happened."

"Are we seeing tomorrow before school?"  
"Of course. I missed you. I hated seeing you sick and not knowing how to help you."  
"I missed you too. You helped me very well, Hanna. I couldn't have imagined a better nurse. Okay, not a sexier one as well."  
"I'm glad you're good again."  
"Me too, believe me. You know what I didn't know?"  
"What?"  
"That you can carry me."  
Hanna blushed a little.

"I didn't know that too, but I could have because you literally weigh nothing, Em. Good for both of us because I don't really know how I would have gotten you upstairs otherwise."

"That was cute of you. I didn't tell you yet, but it was."  
"You would have done that too if I had been sick."  
"I'm gonna do that when you're pregnant with our kid later. We want a kid, don't we?"  
"Of course, we do. Good to know." Hanna smiled. "I would never say no to somebody with your genes."  
"You jerk." Emily laughed. "I love you still."  
"Love you too. I gotta hang up now, I'm at home."  
"Wait."  
"Why?"  
"I wanna make sure that you're safe before you hang up."  
"Oh Em." Hanna whispered as she got out of the car, listening to Emily's breath on the other end of the phone.


End file.
